You'd think it's just about knitting and travel, but it's really about life, love, faith...and food

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Knit Along: Mystery Pattern Neck Comforter from Knitche - Day 1

Victim to Victor...

It’s happened. You’re knitting along with some luscious hand-dyed yarn--let’s say booties for your brand new niece--and suddenly you’re staring at an obnoxious blob of blue on what will be her adorable left toe. There isn’t that much blue in the yarn when you look at the hank, but suddenly there’s very boyish blue reproducing like an ink stain on your very girly booties.

You’ve become a victim of “pooling” or “stacking”--when colors pile up in ways we don’t want. You grunt and scowl. It’s happens.

But what if you wanted it to happen? Sought it out for a specific visual impact? Yes, really. That’s why Kniche owner Kathy Ticho is such a great person...she makes things like this happen. Takes ordinary knitting scenarios--problems even--and turns them into art. Suddenly that sequence of hand-dying becomes the means to an end, and you get this cool tie-die effect.

Sure, it’s just a block of fisherman’s rib stitching, but when you take that simple rectangle and throw this color magic on top, plus add a clever little off-center binding Kathy’s devised, you get a spiffy accessory.

Lorna’s Laces makes luscious yarn. That’s truth, by the way, not just some fiber tongue-twister. It’s also a local company, and I love that I chose the colorway called Edgewater. I used to live near that neighborhood in my days before suburbanite mommy-dom. So I happily wound my yarn and cast on. It only took me two rows to get my fingers around the “knit one below” pattern of the fisherman’s rib, and I was especially glad I chose needles with nice sharp points. I like the balance here--not too much thinking, but still not mind-numbing stockinette or garter. Good knitting for the conference I was attending.

I’m very pleased so far. We’ll see what happens as we venture forward.